Immigrants who could not afford to pay for a cabin on the first or second deck of the ship stayed in steerage. The tickets were cheap, but it was a large open area beneath the ship's deck. There weretoilet facilities and no privacy. The steerage of a ship also held more diseases. It was originally built for storing cargo.

external image steerage.jpg
steerage-1873.jpg
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Hey, at least they had pants.... hanging on the ceiling. norwayheritage.com